XXII
LION

White lion of the deserts, winds
of fire ruffle your black hair while
your father’s sun shines on you, and you
watch us in the sand. You pursue the one
you love with intense affection, and if he flees
you follow him relentlessly, ensnaring him
without mercy; he is dying of thirst
and is afraid to stop and drink in the arroyos
under the gaze of your threatening eyes
in pursuit of victims. Fearing what he desires,
he hears you panting behind
the rocks, and when he finally surrenders,
awaiting your claws with closed eyes,
his heart stopped, his face frozen,
he feels your blood that quenches thirst,
he feels the embrace of a sweet death
that returns him to the life he was fleeing,
and thus to eat you is to be eaten by you,
King of the desert, Lion of Judah!